Who do you know and what do they do...?

Who do you know and what do they do for and with others to make this a more hopeful and better world?

Replies

1. David Rhoads is a friend of mine who started two environmental sustainability groups in the Racine Metro area. Here is a link to his background and experience https://www.lstc.edu/academics/faculty/david-rhoads

One group is Greening Greater Racine (GGR) http://greeninggreaterracine.weebly.com/ Greening Greater Racine is an inclusive environmental movement of people, organizations, businesses, and government leaders working to inspire, educate, and motivate people to take action to make a healthier and sustainable Greater Racine area now and in the future. The group began forming in 2014. The second is Racine Green Congregations http://greeninggreaterracine.weebly.com/ggrfaith.html

2. Article by Alexa Haigh, President and CEO of United Way of Racine County https://journaltimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/how-i-became-comfortable-talking-about-race/article_21583d4a-8b47-5702-90d0-8c449f9a93e8.html  Later in this Newsletter, under Hope-Filled Organizations, there is some information about the United Way of Racine County, WI and the many hope-filled organizations they support with funds and volunteers.

3. In Memoriam: Legendary Labor Priest Jack O'Malley: Fr. Jack O'Malley was a familiar face to those in the Western Pennsylvania labor movement... or employers embroiled in labor disputes with Pittsburgh workers. He'd already acquired decades of experience expressing solidarity with working men and women, from steelworkers to farmworkers, when he helped establish the Catholic Labor Network in the 1990s. Hospitalized at the end of his life with Parkinson's disease, O'Malley continue to chat up his nurses about organizing...https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2020/09/14/obituary-Father-John-Jack-OMalley-champion-labor-civil-rights-Pittsburgh-unions-workers/stories/202009120089

4.Jim Schatzman is a friend of mine who is Executive Director of Racine Vocational Ministry. https://www.rvmracine.org/ He is also the founder and Director of the Chorale Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin. https://choralartsonline.org/ Here is a link to a recent newspaper story about him and the hope inspiring work he is doing. https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/schatzman-building-community-with-hope-faith-and-music/article_2a25ac08-e892-51c2-a958-1567e7277ba5.html 

5. I have a woman friend who is a retired teacher. She volunteers for the NAACP and she is White/Caucasian. She works for Equal Rights, Social Justice and ending systemic racism. My friend primarily does this by writing letters for new legislation and by making phone calls to legislative staff in her state of MI. She participates in her Local Chapter NAACP meetings. She's an inspiring woman, has a wonderful heart and a terrific sense of humor.

6. Tom Rutkowski, a friend of mine, is one of the founding members of the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin https://cleanpowerwi.org/  Here is the start of the article he submitted. "Just a few weeks ago 900 fires were consuming vast areas of the western United States. At the same time hurricanes lined up in the Atlantic like flights waiting their turn to land, so many, in fact, that all the letters in our alphabet had been used to name this season’s hurricanes. 

Just last week, as if in response to those catastrophes, Walmart announced their target of zero emissions by 2040, following a target set by Google of becoming carbon free by 2030. In that same week, General Electric announced that they would no longer be in the business of building coal-fired power plants. On Tuesday of that week, Tesla announced plans for a million mile battery as well as plans to hit the $100 per kilowatt-hour for batteries, a goal that will make electric cars competitive in price with combustion engine vehicles. To complement that announcement Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, announced that only electric vehicles will be sold in the state in 15 years.

Walmart and Google and Tesla aren’t exactly models of “bottom up” change, but they do represent a powerful response to climate change when leadership and action are lacking from the top down. Read More